NCAA prez happy to set up grid playoff, if...
NCAA president Mark Emmert said yesterday that he is willing to help create a playoff format to decide a national championship for the top level of college football. However, that won't happen unless the leaders of institutions fielding teams in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision want to make such a change after contracts with the current Bowl Championship series expire in 2014.
NCAA president
Mark Emmert
said yesterday that he is willing to help create a playoff format to decide a national championship for the top level of college football. However, that won't happen unless the leaders of institutions fielding teams in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision want to make such a change after contracts with the current Bowl Championship series expire in 2014.
"If the leadership of those universities . . . want to move in that direction, then the NCAA knows how to run championships and we'd be happy to help," Emmert said.
Emmert stopped short of endorsing a playoff, saying that the NCAA also sees value in the bowl system, particularly the way it expands opportunities for athletes to participate in postseason play.
"We had 35 bowls this year, some of which were big and some of which were small, but the one thing I know about every one of them is, 70 teams loved playing in them," Emmert said. "Kids love playing bowl games.
In other college-football news:
* Former Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones will have a pin inserted to repair a stress fracture in his foot on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C. Agent Jimmy Sexton said that the injury was discovered 2 days before the likely first-round draft pick's scheduled workout at the NFL combine. Jones still not only participated but ran the 40 in 4.39 seconds and turned in a combine-best 11-foot, 3-inch broad jump. Sexton said recovery should take 6 to 8 weeks.
Sport Stops
* Mike Davis was named executive director of the U.S. Golf Association. He replaces David Fay, who retired after 21 years.
* Amy Rodriguez and Megan Rapinoe scored as the U.S. soccer team beat Japan, 2-1, in its opener at the Algarve Cup at Vila Real de San Antonio, Portugal.
* Jockey Jean-Luc Samyn will be sidelined for a month after cutting off two fingers and breaking another in a snowblower accident at his home in New York.
* Three-time Formula One champion Jackie Stewart is undergoing tests at a London hospital after taking ill on a flight.